Medieval Akeld : Bastle

The earliest reference to a fortified building at Akeld occurs in 1522, when Lord Dacre proposed to place ten men there under John Wallis for the defence of the border (LP Hen VIII III, 2 no.1986; cf. NCH XI (1922), 240). The term tower was used by Dacre in 1522, but in 1541, the border commissioners, Sir Robert Bowes and Sir Ralph Ellerker, described it as 'a lytle fortelett or bastle house without a barmekyn' (see Selected Sources and Surveys; Bates 1891, 33; cf. Cathcart King 1983, 356, 478, nn.486-7). The degree of terminological confusion or uncertainty displayed by these sources might actually be appropriate to the type of grander bastle house, or strong house, which the surviving remains at Akeld seem to represent - almost tower-like in height, but more house-shaped in plan and proportion. They may have proved as difficult for contemporaries to define and describe as they have for modern historians.

Akeld's need for the kind of protection which the bastle or stronghouse could provide is not in question. Glendale was particularly exposed to raids launched by the reiving clans, or 'surnames' of Teviotdale, especially during the chronic insecurity of the 16th century. It was also one of the invasion routes followed by larger Scottish forces and two sizeable engagements were fought in the immediate vicinity of Akeld in the early 15th century - the Battle of Homildon Hill (Humbleton Hill) in the fields just to the east of Bendor in September 1402 and the 'Battle of Geteryne' (Yeavering) a little further to the west in 1415.

Bowes and Ellerker imply, but do not explicitly state, that the bastle house was part of Lord Grey's holding. However the reference to a garrison being stationed there in the charge of John Wallis, in 1522, suggests the building formed part of that quarter of the manor, which was held by the Wallis family throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. Armstrong's map (1769), which marks a ruin in a spot corresponding to that of the bastle, indicates the structure was in a state of considerable decay by the late 18th century.

The rebuilding which gave the building its present form, involving the construction of a new first floor to form a granary and dovecote, must have occurred later on, at some stage between c. 1770 - 1850. The field walls attached to the north and south ends of the bastle stand over 1.5m ('5ft') high and are more substantial than other field walls in the vicinity. Grundy has suggested that these may even represent defensive outworks, or barmkin, associated with the bastle in which case the barmkin would enclose an elongated area extending north and south of the building. If the suggestion is valid the enclosure must represent a secondary addition to the bastle for Bowes and Ellerker indicate there was no barmkin there in 1541.

There was presumably an earlier manorial complex, which must have served William of Akeld and his predecessors during the 12th - 13th centuries (and perhaps even earlier if the Akeld manor did originate as a Saxon thanage as has been suggested). There is no evidence to indicate whether this lay on the same site as the bastle and Akeld Manor Farm is a plausible alternative candidate.

Picture : Akeld Bastle